Williams said he hasn’t dismissed the contributions that the freshman trio of Brooks, Sterling Manley and Brandon Huffman can make as the team’s primary post players. He said those players will continue to receive meaningful playing time because that’s needed as part of their development.

Meanwhile, Notre Dame’s lineup might be a bit of a mystery with Colson out for another six weeks and guard Matt Farrell’s status uncertain after missing the past two-plus games with an ankle sprain.

Notre Dame struggled offensively in Wednesday night’s 60-53 loss at Georgia Tech. Part of that came because guard Rex Pflueger shot 0-for-8 from the field (including 0-for-6 on 3s).

“Pflueger goes 0-for-8,” Williams said. “You don’t think he’s going to do that the next game. You hope he doesn’t go 8-for-8 and even that out.”

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Tip-off

Who: No. 20 North Carolina (13-4, 2-2) at Notre Dame (13-4, 3-1)

When: 6 Saturday night (ESPN)

Where: Joyce Center, South Bend, Ind.

Series: North Carolina leads 21-7

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